Liang looked a little perplexed when asked if this would be his first visit to Scotland. "You just mentioned yourself that I played in The Open last year," he answered in puzzlement, and looked slightly abashed when it was pointed out to him that Royal Birkdale is in England. "Then this will be my first visit to Scotland," he corrected himself with a grin.
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One of China's less well-known faces, Gu Cuilin takes a moment to smle for the camera
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Like Liang, Mcgraine finished the day on par, but he will look back on the closing holes with a feeling of horror. I went out to watch the group complete their round, and as I passed the scoreboard on 15 I saw that McGraine had birdied the friendly par-5 13th to go to 4-under, only one shot off the lead. This was a considerable achievement in view of the fact that only six players from the afternoon starters finished the round under par.
From the 14th green I watched McGraine fall short from a fairway bunker, chip on to the green, and sink his putt for what I assumed was a par save. I was therefore a little staggered to see from the accompanying scorer that he was back to level-par, although not half as shocked as Damien would have been. In fact he had gone into the water and then taken three shots to escape from the bunker in what was a four-over par eight. He followed that with a bogey on 15 as well to drop five strokes in the space of two holes, before stopping the rot with a birdie 2 on the short 16th, and he must have been grateful to see out the rest of his round in par.
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No wonder Damien McGraine is chewing his nails on the 16th tee – he has just dropped five shots in two holes.
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Four-under today would have put him in a great position to challenge for the title again this year, but he is only five shots off the lead and just out of the top 20. He showed huge character last year to win the Volvo Open by a mile in horrendous conditions; tomorrow he will have the opportunity to exercise that character again.
Shot of the day: Monty's hole-out from the bunker on 18 gave us an opportunity to experience an increasing rare golfing phenomenon – Colin Montgomerie leaving the course with a broad smile on his face.
(China.org.cn April 16, 2009)
